David Hockney (1937-) Great Britain

David Hockney is a British artist, graphic artist and photographer, who is active in California. Hockney was educated at the Royal College of Art in London. He is mainly associated with pop art, a label he has personally denied. In his earliest works signs of expressionism can be seen. Hockney’s art is primarily personal and autobiographical, though some of his most famous paintings depict swimming pools in Los Angeles. As a graphic artist, he mainly worked with lithography. Between 1970 and 1986 he primarily devoted himself to photography and photo collage, which was Hockney’s medium of expression. He often made his collages from Polaroid photos, in the form of a patchwork that formed a composite image. In 1977 Hockney was awarded the Companion of Honour and he is now a member of the British Royal Academy.